Daughter of Magic
by 1fallenangel7
Summary: Meet Francesca Lin, demigod and daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic. When she arrives at Camp Half-Blood, she is sent on a quest to solve a puzzling riddle. The price for not completing it? An eternal darkness. With no experience in magic whatsoever, can Francesca prevent the coming darkness and master her power? (Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.)
1. Claimed

"Say what?!" I was furious. My dad had just up and decided to enroll me in some stupid summer camp when I could have stayed home and relaxed.

"Francesca Lin! Do not raise your voice at me!" I clenched my fists and settled on glaring at my dad. Deep breaths. Finally, through clenched teeth, I managed to say something. "When am I leaving?"

My dad's countenance calmed. "Tomorrow."  
"To-ugh! Fine, I'm going to pack." I stomped off to my room and packed. Meaning: Stuffing random things from my closet into a bag. Still, by the time I actually finished, it was already 9. I took one tiny look around my room before falling immediately to sleep.

The taxi ride was quiet. I gave the driver the address then sat back, arms folded. A few minutes passed then, "Are you sure it's here, miss? There's nothing there." I glanced up. There was a tree with a golden fur coat and a sleeping dragon. Through the gigantic arch, there were cabins, of different shapes and designs. Campers milled around doing random camp activities. Strawberry fields spread out far to the north, and a pale, blue lake shone under the sun. The sign above the door read Camp Half-Blood. The funny thing was that somehow I knew the words weren't English.

"Um. Yes, I think it's here." The taxi driver gave me a skeptical look, but after awhile, he just nodded. I thanked him, gave him the money and a generous tip just to get back at my dad, then got off. I waited until he drove away before turning to face the arch. "Well. Here goes nothing."

The dragon raised its head when I passed, but otherwise ignored me. When I walked in, a ripple swept through the boundary then I literally popped through. The sound wasn't even that loud, but once I got in, a LOT of heads turned towards me. I never liked being the center of attention, so I stood there, fidgeting. Thankfully, two men saved me from being completely uncomfortable. Well if you could call them "men". The top half of one of the men was human. The bottom half of him, was a horse. I had to remind myself it was rude to stare.

The other guy looked like a pretty stereotypical lazy idiot. A potbelly, loud Hawaiian shirt, khakis, and a Diet Coke in one pudgy hand. However, this guy had power. I don't know how I knew, I just did. And in his eyes, was a harsh, purple fire. A little dimmed, but it was definitely there.  
"Hello. You must be the newcomer. This is Mr. D or Lord Dionysus. But he goes by Mr. D." Now I absolutely couldn't stop staring. I mean, was this guy a joke? What sad parents did HE have?

The other guy snapped me out of my staring with a huge sigh. "I supposed I need to give you a welcome. Well, we're DELIGHTED to have you here, blah blah blah, campfire tonight, blah blah, hope you enjoy." With that, he turned away and tromped off. Chiron looked embarrassed. He cleared his throat. "Well, just put your stuff in the Big House. Hopefully, your parent will claim you-"

"Hold up! Claim me? I only have one parent and I'm pretty sure my dad already claimed me. What are you on about?" Chiron sighed like he was tired of explaining this.  
"Follow me. I'll tell you." He walked towards the biggest cabin and I followed, feeling everyone's eyes on me the entire time.

Once I got inside, Chiron gestured for me to place my bags down. He stayed standing, but offered me a chair. Hesitantly, I sat down, waiting for him to begin. His first question startled me.  
"Have you ever known your mom?"

I frowned, trying to think. "No. My dad vaguely mentions her, once in a blue moon, but she left before I was born. Work issues, my dad said." Chiron nodded then started talking about gods, goddesses, and the world of monsters. By the time he finished telling me I was a demigod, my head was reeling. All the Greek mythology I'd ever learned was now real life.  
"I'll give you time to take this all in." Chiron graciously left me sitting there dazedly.  
I must have sat there for quite awhile because Chiron came in and told me they were starting the campfire. I got up and let him lead me to the already blazing fire. Strangely enough, the fire was an unnatural bright red and high, but when I passed by it, it flew a few inches higher and emitted orange-red sparks. I sat on one of the empty logs surrounding the fire and watched campers trickle in.

By the time every log was full, I found myself next to a blond with a cheery smile. Spots danced in front of my eyes from staring at the fire too long. "Hi! I'm Mallory! Daughter of Apollo!" I turned towards the voice, trying to remember an Apollo.

"God of the sun?" She nodded ecstatically and opened her mouth to say more, but Chiron called for order.  
"Welcome back campers! We have a newcomer this year and I'd like for Francesca Lin to please stand up." I slowly got up and tried not to blush as more than a hundred campers turned to face me. "Francesca, please tell us about you."  
"Um. I'm Francesca Lin and I'm um, 15. I like to read and write and sing."  
"Thank you. You may sit down. Campers, please make her feel welcome." I walked back to my seat but as my luck would have it, a stone was in my way.

I put out a hand to steady myself as I fell, and purple tendrils of something shot out from my fingers and bounced off the sandy floor, springing me back up. At the same moment, the fire sprang up, turning briefly purple. When I was finally upright, the campers and Chiron gaped at me. A flash of dark purple flashed above my head and the campers' eyes trailed up. Slowly, they all got down on one knee, leaving me completely baffled.

Chiron raised a hand, red fire illuminating his face. "Hail, Francesca Lin, daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic and obscurity."


	2. Strawberries, A Goth, and Fire

I was completely and utterly speechless. After my little "claiming ceremony", I went to the cabin built for my mom and lay down, doing nothing else. A few minutes later, my other two cabinmates came in. A girl named Lou Ellen and a boy named Alabaster Something or Other. I greeted them quickly but was really in no mood to talk. Thankfully, they seemed to get it.

Still, even after my roommates fell asleep, I couldn't. There's something about finding out you're half-god that sort of gives you insomnia. After hours of staring blankly up at the ceiling, I finally fell asleep.

And woke up in a nightmare. I dreamed I was in an area where gravity had no limits. I was floating in midair. Around me, darkness reigned. The only light was a thin film of brightness around me. Other than that, I couldn't see an inch anywhere in either direction. All of a sudden, a faint, purple fire flickered up ahead. Mesmerized, I glided towards the fire. When I was within arm's reach, everything froze. A soft laugh drifted through the darkness. It wasn't pleasant, it was taunting. It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. It was like taking my biggest fear-darkness-and shoving it in my face. Slowly, my light started to dim. Slowly, my fear creeped into me, and I felt the darkness constricting.

Then, light flooded my eyelids. Blearily, I opened my eyes. My cabin was empty, but my wonderful siblings had left the door wide open. Groaning, I got up. "Dammit." I cursed under my breath in every language I knew. By the time I finished dressing, the field was empty, but chatter drifted out from the mess hall. I walked past the cabins to get to the cafeteria. Despite how late I was for breakfast, I couldn't help but admire the designs on the other cabins.

Mine was pretty cool too. It was dark, and different stones with engraving were laid in the brickwork. The symbols were odd, but I was somehow able to decipher them. Oh right. Daughter of Hecate. "Gotta get used to that." I muttered.

"Yeah. It was hard for me too."

I jumped at the new voice. Standing in front of one of the cabins was a boy. And my first impression of him and his cabin: goth. It was black and I'm pretty sure the structure was obsidian. Skulls were inlaid in the walls and one was perched above the door. In torches on either side, blazed green fire that never so much as flickered. The boy had jet-black hair, that barely brushed his shoulders. He wore a rumpled black shirt, black jeans, and black Nikes. The sword hanging from his side was black and it had dark energy practically radiating around it. His skin was milky white, almost porcelain.

"Who are you?" Even with his all-depressing look, something about him was interesting. He smiled sheepishly. "Nico DiAngelo, son of Hades. Sorry for scaring you." Despite myself, I smiled back. I've never met the god of the Underworld himself, but I'm pretty sure he didn't apologize much.

"Francesca Lin, daughter of Hecate." At my introduction, he inclined his head.

"So, YOU'RE the new camper?"

"Yup. That's me."

"Cool." He walked into step beside me. "Going to the mess hall?"

"Yeah. Do we have a specific time when we have to be there?"

He thought for a moment. "Do you like attention?" I wrinkled my nose.

"Not particularly. Why?" He laughed at my reaction.

"Good. Neither do I. People will stare, but we won't get in trouble. Chiron's too nice and Mr. D doesn't care about us."

"Oh."

We walked in silence for awhile. A burst of lava shot up from the obstacle course as we passed, startling me. Some of the rocks sizzled and steamed when the boiling fire touched it. The closer we got to the cafeteria, the louder the chatter got. Now I could see people eating around the open pavilion. I could see beings in gossamer-y dresses peeking out from trees. I saw other beings poking bluish heads above the clear, glass water. A soft wind blew through the essentially empty camp, smelling faintly of strawberries.

Nico's sword swung as he strided, making faint swooshing sounds. Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, "What is that?" He looked at me confused before following my eyes to his sword. Recognition flashed over his features. "Stygian Iron. Best effect on monsters and ghosts, but it works well on mortals and immortals too." I flinched at his nonchalant response and inched slowly away from him.

He just laughed. Surprisingly, his laugh wasn't as cold or even dark as the rest of him. He had a ringing laugh, pleasant and sounded as if it came from a ten-year old. Despite his creepy sword, I smiled along with him. "You'll get used to it."

"Okay." Again, silence fell. But this time, it was comfortable and welcoming. The air was stronger, ruffling our hair. The smell of strawberries thickened and I breathed it in. We finally reached the mess hall, and this time, the amplified chatter blended with the strawberry-scented wind.

Nico and I looked at each other and nodded. Bracing myself, we stepped out from the shadows of one of the columns. As he predicted, quite a lot of heads swiveled to look at us. Some whispered, but never relinquished their stares. I fidgeted uncomfortably and judging by the slight shuffling next to me, Nico wasn't comfortable either. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and saw him inching slowly backwards. A strip of shadow lay on the floor, caused by a potted plant. Just before he could step into the shadow-for goodness knows what-Chiron trotted over.

"For now, you can sit anywhere. Normally, campers sit with their respective cabins, but you can sit anywhere, to get a feel of the place. And don't forget to drop an offering in the fire." As soon as the centaur stopped talking, chatter slowly rose back into the usual. Everyone left us alone, except for a select group. They waved Nico over and I saw his face break into a smile. Lightly, he touched my hand. "Come on."

Reluctantly, I followed him to the group. After greeting Nico, they turned their smiles to me. Warm. Tentatively, I smiled back. Nico whipped out introductions. A boy with windswept black hair and green eyes was Percy, son of Poseidon. A girl sat next to Percy, her hair platinum blond, her eyes stormy gray, smiled at me but it seemed she was forcing a welcomeness into her smile. Nico introduced her as Annabeth, daughter of Athena, explaining for me the calculating look in her eyes. An unnaturally pretty girl with choppy brown hair was introduced as Piper, daughter of Aphrodite. The blond boy next to him casually nodded, blue eyes reflecting the sun. Jason, son of Zeus was what I was told. Lastly, a boy with curly brown hair and a mischevous-almost devilish-smile grinned at me and introduced himself as Leo, son of Hephaestus.

My head was swimming with names and faces but I casually stuck out a hand and shook his waiting one. I sat down next to them and immediately the empty plate in front of me filled up with my favorite food: rice and noodles. I gasped and looked at the other campers at the table. They seemed to be trying not to laugh. I picked up the prone chopsticks and gently poked the steaming noodles. It felt real. Gently, I picked one up and put it in my mouth. It even tasted real too.

Percy finally grinned at me. "The plates fill with any food you want. So do the glasses." I glanced to my right and sure enough, a tall glass sat there, gleaming in the light. I reached out a hand and touched the glass and immediately it filled up with a brown-ish liquid. I drank it and sure enough, it was iced tea.

i was about to dig in to my food, finally getting over the weirdness of magical plates and cups when I noticed the others staring at me. Heat rushed to my face, and I shifted nervously. To avoid their piercing gazes, my eyes strode down to their plates and then I realized that half of their food was gone. Simply, gone. Annabeth nodded at me, probably trying to ease my confusion. Then, Chiron's earlier words drifted back through my head. "...drop an offering into the fire."

I put two and two together and a light went on in my head. Still not sure if I was doing it right, but acting on impulse, I got up and walked slowly to the fire. People had once again fallen silent and were watching me. I was getting annoyed. Didn't these people have anything better to do? I extracted the nicest looking part of my plate and dropped it into the fire. It surged up, but didn't stop there. Roaring, the fire literally flew off and set me on fire.


End file.
